Russian Senator: US exit from Iran deal is destroying international law

According to Russia’s Senate President Valentina Matvienko, Washington’s actions over the Iran nuclear deal could undermine confidence in international institutions, particularly the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA).

“I believe there is still another danger after such actions,” she said, and that is “undermining confidence in international institutions such as the IAEA.”

“The organization was more closely monitoring compliance with the agreement, but now the question of the reliability of the IAEA is being put into question, which is completely wrong,” she said.

She compared the situation to that facing the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW), which, according to Matvienko, is under “very heavy pressure” from those who want to hear from “what they would like to hear.” This prevents the OPCW from carrying out objective investigations. This is a clear allusion to the US’ disregard for the OPCW’s confirmation that Syria had disposed of its chemical weapons by 2016 and Washington’s continued use of unsubstantiated accusations of the use of chemical weapons by the Assad government as pretexts to attack Syria.

“This is a very dangerous trend because it means the destruction of international order, international law and institutions that have taken many years to be created and that have regulated international relations in different areas,” Matvienko said.

In addition, the head of Russia’s senate stressed that the US did not present any argument to prove the need to break the agreement with Iran.

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“In addition to saying that the deal is allegedly bad and that it was signed by [former US president] Barack Obama, the world did not hear any serious argument that would break the agreement,” Valentina Matvienko explained.

The senator is also of the opinion that Washington’s exit from the nuclear deal could create a hostile environment on the eve of talks on the Korean peninsula.

“In my view, with these actions, Washington has demonstrated a frightening lack of responsibility,” said Matvienko, pointing to the consequences of the US decision: destruction of confidence, emergence of political unpredictability, the weakening of signed agreements.

“What environment can this create on the eve of the talks with North Korea, given that extremely robust commitments to Iran can suddenly be destroyed by a country?” she asked.

On May 8, US President Donald Trump declared the country’s withdrawal from the historic agreement with Iran, which was the fruit of lengthy talks between the United States, Iran, and other signatories (Russia, China , Germany, France, and the United Kingdom) concluded in 2015.

Under the agreement, in exchange for canceling sanctions, Iran agreed to submit its nuclear program to regulation and inspection, confirming that it would not create or obtain nuclear weapons.

Now, following the US’ exit from the agreement, Washington has reintroduced sanctions against Iran, and threatens to sanction other countries’ engaged in deals with the country. This includes not only Russia and China, but the European Union as well, thus setting the stage for potential antagonisms which Matvienko believes are undermining international law.

Paul Antonopoulos is a Research Fellow at the Center for Syncretic Studies. He has an MA in International Relations and is interested in Great Power Rivalry as well as the International Relations and Political Economy of the Middle East and Latin America.